An Alabama Redneck Reports On How Gay Marriage Has Impacted Him (Video)

I usually don’t care much about viral videos, but this one was worth watching. A redneck reporting on how same-sex marriage legalization in Alabama has affected his county? Most people would hear the words “Alabama” and “redneck” and instantly assume this was going to be a hateful rant about how gay people are destroying the sanctity of his marriage, and society in general. Perhaps you might expect some Confederate flags, a lifted pickup truck parked next to a trailer with some Klan robes hanging on the clothesline? After all, I’ll bet when this article is published, at least a few people who leave Facebook comments without reading the story will say things like “let them secede already” and “what else would you expect from the South?”

The video from Jeremy Todd Addaway starts off with, “I read on the news today some information, that homosexuals will be getting married in Alabama today, so I wanted to give you a live report from Blount County.” Hoooo boy, here we go. An Alabama good old boy sharing his thoughts on gay marriage can’t end well, right? Wrong. This guy gets it and the video is a great example of the sly humor prevalent throughout the South, especially when we’re dealing with people who think we’re all a bunch of backwards gun nuts who live in trailer parks and drink Bud Light.

“This pile of brush is still here, and there are no homosexuals layin’ on top of it, doin’ homosexual things,” he continues in a slow, subtle dig at gay rights opponents before moving on to checking on the pile of junk behind the shed. “We’re back here by a pile of junk — and it’s still here — and there’s no homosexuals doin’ homosexual things here either, so it looks like we’re pretty safe here in Blount County, don’t think we’re gonna be subject to plagues of homosexuals fallin’ from the sky.” He concludes with claiming the only thing looking suspicious is a couple of squirrels, which he’ll check out later.

What I love about this video is that not only is he taking jabs at opponents of gay rights, he’s also poking people who like to stereotype Southerners as intolerant, cross-burning rednecks. While the KKK has come out in support of Chief Justice Roy Moore and his battle against the federal government over same-sex marriage, it’s safe to say that many self-described “rednecks” in Alabama and elsewhere may not necessarily be supportive, but they’re not going to stand in the way either. A lot of rural, blue-collar folks I’ve run into seem to have the attitude that while they don’t necessarily approve, it isn’t any of their business and they don’t care. In fact, a recent poll shows that 60 percent of people likely to vote in the 2016 elections support the right for same-sex couples to get married, which is a huge change from just a few years ago.

I don’t know what Jeremy Todd Addaway’s political affiliation is, but a lot of conservatives are beginning to realize that gay marriage doesn’t affect them and really isn’t any of their business. At least he didn’t say “Roll Tide.” That’s a level of acceptance I haven’t achieved yet.